Misty Pines Dog Park Co — Local services in Franklin Park

I was so excited to take my 8 month old puppy here, but unfortunately I was let down by the cost and quality of Misty Pines. First, the company makes you attend a $75 "orientation" prior to starting classes. I was really looking forward to having my dog be in a facility that had agility obstacles, so I went against my better judgment and caughed up the cash. The class was two hours long and all they do is trot out a service dog and have him lay there while a trainer tells you about what they have for sale, what classes are available, and read from a slides show. It was ridiculous.... It had a time share sales pitch vibe to it. But I just figured that they were out of touch and this was an easy way to make money. Second, I went to my first class and there is very little to no guidance throughout the entire 45 minutes. You stand around with your puppy and listen to some guy talk into an NSYNC mic about what exercisers you're going to do. He walks around and "observes" but offers no support. At one point the class is directed to move freely around the room to use the obstacles.... But he provides no insight into how to acclimate your dog to the obstacles or direction for the class. I had a new puppy there who was checking things out, and some pushy suburban lady is rushing me along so her dog can go through the course. Now, I understand her motivation to get what she paid for, but I believe the the instructor should discuss etiquette and how new dogs should approach these things. Lastly, at the end of the class I asked the trainer help me put a gentle leader on my dog... I even never used one and didn't want to spook my dog. He agrees to assists me easily enough but my dog got scared, fought being held, and got out of her harness. The trainer did nothing to assist me once that happened and just scolded me to get "get the dog" and told me that "this behavior won't work". Obviously, this behavior won't work man... That's why I'm here. The whole thing just didn't live up to expectations. I didn't get anything from this class that I couldn't get...

I love this place! If I'm taking my dog somewhere to have fun and keep him busy, this is where I go. They are a little bit pricey but that doesn't bother me as I only go to one class a week if I'm not busy and as an added bonus, the dog park is free before and after that class you take! I take my dog to the Toy breed class, Ed normally teaches it and I have to say, he really has a way with the little dogs. I've had one other instructor teach the Toy class and it was very uncomfortable, you could feel all the dogs in the room being very stimulated. But I'm not saying the other instructors are bad as I have seen them teach the classes with the bigger dogs and they do a fantastic job. After coming here maybe fifteen times I have noticed my dogs behavioral and potty problems diminishing and an increase in confidence just by having this outlet for him once a week. I see some reviews stating they could be rough with pets, but I have not experienced this yet. I can't say anything about the daycare or boarding as I have not used either, but I do know they have a window you can watch your dog from while they are in daycare. They also sell these special training collars, I was very iffy to spend money on just a fancy collar, but I ended up getting one after not having much success with his harness, and their training collar REALLY made a difference in training. I'm not sure why, I think it's about the communication through the leash. Overall, I...

Puppy kindergarten was spent listening to a trainer talk about basics of puppy care in a heavily anecdotal manner 90% of the time (while trying to keep a puppy still) with about 5 minutes of puppy play time outside afterwards. It’s a rotating class without an official start and end. It seemed like they do it this way every week, but I didn’t come back to find out. The description of the experience is one that suggests active training, but it was not active at all. They basically tell you a list of all the things you should teach and give you a paper handout. I had been planning to do multiple of the weeks with my puppy but had no desire to repeat the process after the first experience.

Additionally, my puppy peed a bit when we got in there and the trainer wasn’t going to be distracted enough to look at me when I asked how I should clean it up. It just dried there bc she just continued to ignore me. This experience reinforced that I would not be spending hours at a late night orientation just to access classes that risked being again mostly listening. There are too many trainers available on YouTube to pay and drive for a primarily listening experience.

As a side note. For all trainers I suggest they offer the option of the orientation being available on zoom if dogs can’t come anyway. Sometimes it’s an hour or more driving to get to these classes with traffic and this would be an amazing convenience for many and much...